michael
woodring says:Listen to 'This
Is My Ampbuzz' in its entirety. The adjectives that spring to
mind, such as "cosmic", "astral" and "otherworldly", as the first
track unfolds with a crunching explosion like that of a lifting
rocket will not be the same ones that remain at the end of the
experience. Rather than dwelling in the cold confines of space,
the debut release from Kinski guitarist Chris Martin is more
closely related to the first minutes after astronauts return to
Earth, their capsule smashing into the briny ocean and then
peacefully bobbing like lazy flotsam until rescued.

On a
superficial level, Martin promotes a connection between water and
his music through most of the titles of the songs: 'Bubbles,'
'Underwater Bomb', 'Welcome to the Ocean Floor' and 'Diving
Instructions'. However, the association goes beyond track names.
His palette of guitar loops, disgorged waves of sonic refuse and
fractured ambient drones gel together into something warm and
serous, like an aural amniotic fluid or Nyquil.

'Center
for Clouds' is Martin's most playful track. It too opens with
short blasts of rocket exhaust, but the smoke and flares quickly
disperse before a cartoonish bouncing rhythm and far-off watery
chimes - imagine being caught inside a lava lamp with cherry-red
globules burping you to a state of relaxed buoyancy. 'Soft
Currency' then dispenses with the frivolity, opting instead for a
more angular sound. Looped slicing - like that of scraping guitar
strings or the cry of a marine mammal cut short - remains at the
forefront of the song. A somnolent cascade of plucked guitar notes
shimmer and bead behind this jutting screech until the whole
degenerates into a soupy mess, reminiscent an old cassette being
garbled in a tape deck.

'Welcome to the Ocean Floor' is
the only song in which the darkness of the sea pours in. Low tones
shift and moan through the expanse of the ocean like ghostly whale
calls rippling over the remnants of submerged civilizations. But
even at these depths, a calm and comfort prevail. There is no
hidden, alien evil or frozen isolation at the bottom of Ampbuzz's
ocean - only nature thriving and dying. So what words describe
'This Is My Ampbuzz'? Humid and mysterious. Leviathan.
18 Sep 2002